In a controversial revelation, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner allegedly indulged in unsettling fantasies about assaulting home intruders, according to a former partner. The ex-girlfriend claims Platner would express these thoughts while watching TV and sharpening an axe.
Lyndsey Fifield, who was in a relationship with Platner from 2013 to 2015, recounted his frequent remarks. She recalled him saying, “If anyone ever broke in here, I would rape them,” asserting it was a way to demonstrate dominance rather than a sexual act, as reported by the New York Times.
These allegations are the latest in a series of troubling revelations that have surfaced since Platner announced his candidacy to challenge the long-serving Republican Senator Susan Collins. In October, derogatory online remarks from Platner targeting women, rape survivors, minorities, law enforcement, and veterans came to light.
Furthermore, Platner was found to have a tattoo of a Nazi “death’s head,” acquired during his time in the Marines. Just last weekend, reports emerged of him messaging women on a dating app while married.
On Thursday, Fifield joined two other former partners in disclosing to the Times that these behaviors were consistent with what they experienced during their relationships with Platner.
And on Thursday Fifield became one of three ex-girlfriend’s to tell the Times that all of that behavior matched what they saw when dating Platner over the years.
Fifield claimed Platner’s talk about rape would leave her unsettled — with the feeling amplified by the assault rifle he would often leave lying around his apartment, and the sharp forestry axe he would hone while he watched TV and spouted the bizarrely violent thoughts.
He would even talk about killing people he considered a threat, and how rape was an act of power, Fifield said.
Those claims were just a handful of the alarming accounts Fifield and two other of Platner’s ex-girlfriends told about him, with others describing him as regularly unfaithful and contemptuous of women — and perfectly aware of the Nazi tattoo he sported, despite later publicly insisting he had no idea what it was.
Fifield even claimed he would sometimes grab her by the shoulders during arguments — hard enough to leave marks — and once twisted her arm before pushing her into a room and blocking her from getting out.
Platner “strongly” disputed Fifield’s accounts of physical fights, but admitted some of his behavior may have been questionable at the time — citing PTSD he was enduring from his combat as a Marine in Afghanistan.
“I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend,” he told The Post in a statement.
“I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated,” he added. “Let’s be very clear: This is a lifelong GOP operative who’s dedicated her career to electing Republicans.”
Fifield — who has spent time working on Republican campaigns — insisted she would have told her account of dating Platner no matter what party he was running for.
